Enjoy $300 as a new Chase checking customer, when you open a Chase Premier Plus CheckingSM account and set up direct deposit. This is our recommended Checking account for the added benefits. Full Review

Get up to $350 when you open a new Chase Total Checking® account with Direct Deposit and/or open a new Chase SavingsSM account, deposit $10,000 or more in new money and maintain a $10,000 balance for 90 days. Full Review

Earn $200 when you open a new Chase Total Business Checking® account, deposit $1,000 in new money within 10 business days of account opening, maintain that balance for 60 days and complete five qualifying transactions within 60 days. Full Review

Open a new TD Bank Premier CheckingSM account online to earn a $300 bonus. Or, open a new TD Bank Convenience CheckingSM account online to earn a $150 bonus. Both offers have a direct deposit requirement. Full Review

Apply for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard® and earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. This is one of the best credit card bonuses for a travel card. Full Review

Open an online Money Market Account from CIT Bank (available nationwide) and earn a 1.75% APY rate on all balances. There’s no monthly service charge and the minimum opening deposit is just $100. Full Review

By: Tony Phan | Last Updated: January 9, 2018 | This content is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer. This site may be compensated through the issuer’s Affiliate Program. Please visit our Advertiser Disclosure for additional details.

In this article I’ll go over the best banks for foreign debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals.

When you’re traveling abroad, paying a premium in foreign transaction fees on your credit card is nothing new. But even savvy consumers might not know that debit card transactions, including ATM withdrawals, can also be subject to expensive transaction fees. Smart cardholders can avoid paying too much in debit card foreign transaction fees by reviewing the fees charged by different banks.

International Debit Card Transactions/ATM Withdrawals

Generally, there are two types of fees associated with foreign debit card transactions:

Flat fees charged per transaction: These are typically a fixed-dollar-amount fee charged for every ATM withdrawal or transaction. The flat fee usually ranges from $2 to $5. This is similar to the type of fee most banks charge for out-of-network ATM transactions.

Foreign transaction fees: This is a conversion charge levied by the bank for transactions conduction in a foreign currency. This kind of fee is usually charged as 1% to 3% of the total transaction.

Banks also have two ways of applying foreign transaction fees:

When making an ATM withdrawal, banks will usually combine both types of fees. This means you pay the flat fee for using your debit card at a foreign ATM, plus you pay a percentage of the total amount of cash you withdraw. If you use your debit card in a transaction outside of an ATM, you’ll still pay the foreign transaction fee, but not the flat ATM withdrawal fee.

Less commonly, banks will charge only a flat fee for ATM transactions. These banks usually charge a percentage fee, but not a flat fee, for other foreign transactions.

Best Banks With Lowest Fees For International ATMs

Let’s take a look at the banks with the lowest foreign transaction fees.

Capital One 360

This is Capital One’s online-only banking option. Capital One 360 customers don’t pay any flat fees nor any foreign transaction fees when using their debit cards abroad. According to Capital One, MasterCard may assess a percentage fee, but it’s “covered” by Capital One. Keep in mind that this only applies to Capital One 360 customers; consumers who bank with Capital One through a physical branch are subject to normal foreign transaction fees. Read more about the Capital One 360 Checking account here, along with its bonus offers.

CitiBank

Banking with CitiBank means you can use your CitiBank card to withdraw cash at CitiBank-branded foreign ATMs with no additional fees of any kind. Customers of CitiBank will pay a $2 foreign transaction fee plus a 3% conversion charge on any out-of-network ATM transaction. But, there’s good news: CitiBank has a large international presence, and they’ve made it easy to find a CitiBank location abroad online at this page. CitiBank also offers sign-up bonuses as well.

Discover Bank

Discover Bank customers can use their debit card at foreign ATMs and make other transactions abroad with absolutely no fees. The catch is that Discover Bank cards only work in a select few locations outside the United States, like Canada and Mexico. Read more about the Discover Checking account.

First Republic Bank

Banking consumers who have an opening balance of at least $500 and a monthly average balance of $3,500 or more can benefit from First Republic Bank’s lack of foreign transaction fees. First Republic bank offers free use of 800,000 ATMs across the world and free withdrawals to available limits. First Republic Bank will even refund ATM fees charged by other banks, and there is no charge for other kinds of transactions. Remember that you must have an average monthly balance of $3,500 to maintain these benefits.

Charles Schwab Bank

The Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking Account will reimburse any ATM fees from cash withdrawals worldwide, regardless of the network used. And there are no currency conversion fees for debit card transactions in a foreign currency. You can read more about Charles Schwab’s Checking and Brokerage accounts.

Other Notable Banks/Accounts

Fidelity: If you have a Cash Management Account, you can have all ATM withdrawal fees waived. You can also use the Fidelity Visa Gold Check Card at ATMs displaying Visa, Plus, or Star logos to have ATM fees charged by other institutions reimbursed. From Fidelity: “Please note, there is a foreign transaction fee of one percent that is not waived, which will be included in the amount charged to your account.” Fidelity also has good brokerage promotions also.

PNC Bank: PNC does not have partners overseas and you’ll get charged a $5 fee per transaction plus 3% of the transaction amount. If you are a Performance or Performance Select customer, these fees will be waived. With Spend, Reserve, or Growth accounts, the fee for the first two domestic or international non-PNC Bank ATM transactions during a statement period will be reimbursed. PNC bank has some of the best Checking bonus offers.

USAA: USAA Bank refunds up to $15 in other banks’ ATM usage fees each month and does not charge a fee for the first 10 ATM withdrawals. Subsequent transactions will be charged $2.00 each. A 1% foreign transaction fee applies to withdrawals outside the United States, however. USAA Checking page.

More ATM Fees Data With Common Banks

Here’s more foreign ATM withdrawal fees and foreign purchase fees data on other major banks.

$3 + up to 1.8% of amount *No ATM fee for the first relevant transaction for those with Value Checking. *No ATM fee for the first four relevant transactions on a Circle Gold Checking with Interest account

Final Thoughts

You should always talk to your bank before traveling abroad. Even if they usually charge a fee for foreign transactions, many banks will waive such fees for premium customers or customers that consistently carry a large balance. If your bank has a physical branch or partner bank in your destination country, you may be able to use those branches to avoid foreign transaction fees altogether.

Watch out for fees charged by foreign ATM operators, since these are separate from any charges levied by your bank. The ATM itself should notify you if it will charge you a fee like this.

Nobody wants to come home from a vacation to find a bank statement with unexpected charges for foreign ATM and debit transactions. Always double check with your bank and review the best options before using your debit card abroad.

By: Tony Phan | Last Updated: December 27, 2016 | This content is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer. This site may be compensated through the issuer’s Affiliate Program. Please visit our Advertiser Disclosure for additional details.

Should you pay in US Dollars (USD) or the local currency at international airports? Local or home currency? Euros or dollars? If you’ve traveled abroad, you’ve probably been faced with these questions when paying by credit card.

I’ve been traveling abroad lately and I had no idea which to choose, or whether or not it even mattered at the time. I mean, I have a credit card with no foreign transaction fees, so I assumed it didn’t really matter.

For the most part, that $5 coffee and $6 pastry here and there won’t really matter. But since you’re given the choice, at least make the right one.

USD Vs Local Currency

This last happened to me at the Dubai International Airport, where I was asked if I wanted the purchase charged in US dollars or AED (Arab Emirates Dirham). You’ll get asked everywhere throughout the world as well when using your credit card (e.g. Euros or US Dollars?).

The bill may look more familiar to see the total in US dollars, but you’re going to get charged a separate currency conversion fee, even if your credit card has no foreign transaction fees.

While I didn’t get the impression when asked personally, I’ve read that many merchants would be more eager to bill you in US Dollars instead of the local currency due to an extra profit margin (perhaps 3% or more).

Now, if you don’t happen to have a credit card with no foreign transaction fee (you should!), you’re going to get hit with even more fees (~3%)!

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC)?

Looks like that’s what it’s called when you pay extra fees to see the bill printed in US Dollars.

Apparently this will happen with Visa and MasterCard, where the business can give you a choice of currency during the transaction. American Express doesn’t allow for it.

If you like seeing your receipt in USD, then that’s totally up to you. Personally, I don’t see the logic if you’ve already made the purchase by the time the receipt is in your hand. I’d much rather prefer using a currency conversion app before making any purchase decision anyway (I use this one, it’s free and updates everyday it seems).

I even remember asking the girl at the register my first trip what do most customers choose, and she just shrugged her shoulders and said everyone is different. It didn’t seem like she was acting as if she didn’t want to let me in on the secret, but rather she actually had no idea. So, I suspect many other travelers are also pretty clueless on the matter.

Bottom Line

When given the option, always choose to pay for your purchases at international airports (or anywhere else when abroad) in the local currency, rather than in US Dollars. Save that extra 3% or so in fees, and get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees if you don’t already have one!

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Enjoy $300 as a new Chase checking customer, when you open a Chase Premier Plus CheckingSM account and set up direct deposit. This is our recommended Checking account for the added benefits. Full Review

Get up to $350 when you open a new Chase Total Checking® account with Direct Deposit and/or open a new Chase SavingsSM account, deposit $10,000 or more in new money and maintain a $10,000 balance for 90 days. Full Review

Earn $200 when you open a new Chase Total Business Checking® account, deposit $1,000 in new money within 10 business days of account opening, maintain that balance for 60 days and complete five qualifying transactions within 60 days. Full Review

Open a new TD Bank Premier CheckingSM account online to earn a $300 bonus. Or, open a new TD Bank Convenience CheckingSM account online to earn a $150 bonus. Both offers have a direct deposit requirement. Full Review

Apply for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard® and earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. This is one of the best credit card bonuses for a travel card. Full Review

Open an online Money Market Account from CIT Bank (available nationwide) and earn a 1.75% APY rate on all balances. There’s no monthly service charge and the minimum opening deposit is just $100. Full Review

*Advertiser Disclosure: The credit card and banking offers that appear on this site are from credit card and banking companies from which MoneysMyLife.com receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). MoneysMyLife.com does not include all credit card and banking companies or all available credit card and banking offers. • This content is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the bank advertiser, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. This site may be compensated through the bank advertiser Affiliate Program.